Splitting Yin and Yang
by Working-On-Sanity
Summary: The war was as good as lost. All resources were gone. Both Sasuke and Naruto were fading into unreachable cold recesses, and the only warmth among the gore and rubble was knowing that they could keep their numb hands entwined in a bloody knot on the sand.


**Note: **I wrote this after reading the chapter that ended with Naruto and Sasuke dying. I knew they wouldn't actually _die, _but I had to write something gross and sad and vaguely NaruSasu anyway.

* * *

A humid breeze swept over the battlefield. Leaves skittered over ashes, rustling and crackling over the heaps of mangled corpses. The hot, coppery stench of blood filled the air, heavy and stifling. The dust began to settle over the charred ground.

Kakashi took a step forward. Gravel crunched beneath his sandals, deafening in the silence. His frayed headband was pushed up his forehead. Long pieces of sweaty hair fell over the metal plate. His left eye glowed a smoldering red, faded with pain. Everyone watched as he clasped his big hand gently over Sakura's trembling shoulder.

"Sakura." He spoke quietly, but a stern edge made his voice sharper than he intended. "Sakura, get up. There's nothing else you can do right now."

Sakura wrenched away, her hair swishing against her neck. She ground her teeth before pressing the heels of her hands heavily against Naruto's chest. Faint pulses of green chakra flared from her hands and vanished. She ducked her head, squeezing her lips together to keep in a wail of hopelessness. Fat tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

Hours ago, her hands had burned until the heat became unbearable. There had been no time to rest. No time to wrap her arms in wet bandages to soothe the blistering pain. Now, her hands were numb and stiff. Her fingers were as dead; white and clumsy. How many times had she pressed her palms into Naruto's chest––how many times had she brushed aside his turquoise necklace?

She gazed down at the crystal that lay innocently against Naruto's collarbone. Its facets glittered in the sunlight, twinkling cheerfully. Hatred surged within Sakura. The chakra dome around her hands flickered. Her fingers itched to tear the necklace from Naruto's throat and cast it into the ocean.

"Sakura." Kakashi sounded more urgent. "You don't have any strength left. You can't help him."

His hand gripped her shoulder again, but this time Sakura ignored it. She tensed, but continued steadily thrusting her hands over Naruto's heart. His pulse continued to weaken. Sakura sucked in a sharp breath, leaning down so quickly that her back cracked. She inclined her cheek toward Naruto's face, her eyes darting, glazed with dread. She waited. The slightest puff of breath stirred her hair, barely strong enough to make her bangs flutter.

At that instant, something drove deep into her heart, knocking her into a mental daze.

Kakashi was right.

Her shoulders slumped. Her cupped hands unfurled until they lay flat and lifeless on Naruto's chest. The chakra fizzled.

_I couldn't do it._ The realization struck her soul into stupor, and she rocked back on her heels, stunned. Naruto's skin was growing cool against her palms.

Kakashi knelt beside her. Grass crushed beneath his knee. The lines on his face seemed deeper. His Sharingan eye was bloodshot from exertion. Sakura couldn't look at him, for fear all her despair would pour loose. She swallowed hard.

"You did everything you could, Sakura." Kakashi kept his gaze trained on Naruto. The angry glint was gone from his weathered face, replaced by a fatherly tenderness. "You did more than any of us could. But nobody, not even the Lady Hokage, could heal him. There's a place inside a Jinchūriki that can only be filled by a Tailed Beast. And once that place is emptied, everything caves in."

The weight of his words crushed Sakura's breath down her throat. Helplessly, she sank forward, sliding her shaky arms around Naruto's neck to lift his head. She pressed her cheek to his, her tousled bangs mingling with his dirty hair. When she felt his shoulders shift, she slammed her teeth into her tongue to keep from screaming with despair. She fiercely cradled him closer, not caring about the suffocating the smell of sweat and charred flesh.

Somebody beckoned Kakashi to his side. Hesitantly, Kakashi stood, and followed the Jōnin.

"What are you going to do with the other one?" the Jōnin said quietly. He looked troubled as he waited for Kakashi's reply.

"Other one?"

The Jōnin jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, directing Kakashi's gaze to the piles of rubble dozens of yards behind him. Kakashi's eyes softened, and his jaw shifted beneath his mask.

"Well?"

Kakashi shook his head to dislodge the ache that settled behind his forehead. "I'll . . . I'll take him. Thank you."

The Jōnin watched as Kakashi slowly made his way through the debris, stepping over mauled bodies and dodging the jagged fragments of buildings. It seemed as though he walked for miles before he stooped. With one hand outstretched for balance, he knelt, so sluggishly that his knees creaked, beside Sasuke.

Sasuke lay with his cheek against the ground, his arms by his sides. His bangs fell long and rough over his face, partially obscuring his tight grimace. His pale lips twitched under the coat of waxy blood, and a small noise squeezed past his clenched teeth.

Kakashi leaned forward, his eyebrows wrinkling. A shudder writhed down Sasuke's body, and he weakly curled his gory hands into fists.

"Naruto . . . Naruto . . . Naruto . . . ."

Kakashi's back tightened. No marks of emotion touched his face. He no longer saw a snarling, bloodthirsty rogue Uchiha––all he saw was a frightened, lonely, hurting boy.

Wearily, Kakashi slouched over Sasuke. His tired gaze dragged over Sasuke's beaten, bloodied body.

_What was it I told him back then? _Kakashi wondered. _Back when he was little and still didn't know how to hide fear. "I'll protect you with my life"––that was a promise. _

With a sigh that felt as final as a last breath, Kakashi bent forward. His shadow lengthened and pooled over Sasuke, washing him in a soft shade of gray. Sasuke barely stirred.

Kakashi's heart sank like a lead weight. _He's almost gone. Both Naruto and Sasuke. _

Sasuke's head turned slightly, and his eyes darted behind bruised lids. "Naruto . . . . " His voice turned thick and gooey. His tongue moved against his cheek, and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth. It rolled in a quivering line down his chin, gathered there in a heavy drop, and began a steady _drip-drip _to the ground. The cold dirt gradually drank in the dark red spatters.

Unable to watch any longer, Kakashi averted his gaze.

As carefully as he could, he eased one arm beneath Sasuke's neck and the other beneath his knees. He lifted Sasuke as though he were a child, cradling Sasuke's head against his shoulder and holding Sasuke's legs against his chest. Sasuke's head lolled until it rested against Kakashi's neck. Blood drained from between Sasuke's slack lips, soaking hot and sticky into Kakashi's shirt. Kakashi stared directly ahead.

It felt as though Sasuke became lighter with every step. By the time Kakashi stopped behind Sakura, Sasuke felt almost weightless in his arms.

The scuffing noise of Kakashi's sandals against the gravel made Sakura snap up her head and turn around. The spots of light in her eyes dimmed when she saw Sasuke. Little wrinkles lumped beneath her bottom lip, and her eyes squinted into pools of hot tears. She jerked her head to the side, her hair falling along her cheek to hide her face. She clenched her hands more tightly around Naruto's, not noticing when tears plopped onto his skin.

Kakashi knelt next to Naruto. Slowly, he laid Sasuke on the ground, cupping his hand beneath Sasuke's head to ease him down. Sasuke's jaw shifted, and he ground his teeth against a groan.

Sakura squeezed her fists against her knees. Spikes of chakra sparked from her hands and fizzled.

_Nothing . . . there's nothing I can do. All this strength, all of this training, all of this work . . . for nothing. _Sakura sucked in a deep, shuddering breath that nearly made her lungs pop. _I'll never be of any use to them! _

She glared down through a shimmery sheen of tears at her quivering hands. _After all this time, I'm still no good. I swore that instead of me depending on them, they'd have to lean on me. And now that they can't do anything for themselves, and have to depend on me, I can't do anything about it._

Trembling with hatred, Sakura stiffly shoved her fingers into her hair, smashing pink spikes over her forehead. With her face wet and blotchy, she let her shoulders sink until she was as limp as a bag. There truly was nothing she could do.

Kakashi stepped back. His hands were slimy with blood.

"This is the closest they've been in a long time . . . isn't it."

Sakura looked up with a sniffle, squinting through the blurry tears. "What?"

She realized, and her heart knotted all through her ribs so tightly that she could barely breathe.

Sasuke's cheek pressed against Naruto's shoulder, his nose against the slope of Naruto's jaw. Naruto's battered body was curved in such a way that Sasuke fit exactly into him.

Sakura's fingers went to her throat. "They're like _yin _and _yang_," she said softly.

The wind wafted over them again. Strands of Sasuke's dirty hair fluttered against Naruto's face. As lightly as a ghost, little wrinkles bunched around Naruto's nose. The grimace deepened, and as the tickling became more persistent, he sluggishly turned his head until his cheek touched his shoulder. A warm puff of breath skimmed over his face, and realization surfaced through the sludge in Naruto's brain. His eyes darted behind closed lids, before slowly cracking open. He squinted in the sunlight that filtered through the clouds and made a halo of light around the head that rested on his arm.

_Sasuke. _The word never came audibly from his cracked lips, but the motion was enough. A glimmer as faint as gossamer dimmed his eyes.

All inhibitions were fading. Sasuke pressed his cheek against Naruto's shoulder with a quivering whimper. His breath felt light and soft against Naruto's pallid skin.

Slowly, before everyone's silent gazes, his hand began to move. It trembled, white as paste. Bony knuckles stuck out as knobs under the drying blood. And feebly, the cracked fingers closed around Naruto's hand. Bits of crusted blood flaked loose.

It was the last of his strength. Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand until red fingerprints fanned over the skin. Their hands fell to rest in a bloodied knot on the sand.

Sakura could see nothing through the swimming kaleidoscope of tears. She crumpled against Kakashi, burying her face in his chest. Her skinny shoulders bounced with silent sobs.

The autumn zephyr gained speed. It cracked in the bare trees like a whip. Clouds closed over the sun like a curtain. A heavy chill settled over the earth.

It seemed that hours passed before Naruto moved again. His eyes opened. They looked hollow, sunken deep into the sockets. They stared flatly into the blotted sky, before shifting like marbles to Sasuke.

"Sasuke . . . ?" Naruto's voice made every syllable labored. It sounded as though it were squeezing through a swamp of blood and groans. He grit his teeth, trenches digging between his eyebrows.

In response, Sasuke clenched Naruto's hand. His fingers were strong.

"Sasuke . . . I'm glad . . . I'm glad you came back."

Sasuke sucked in a sudden breath that caught between his teeth. It sounded like a shaky sob. He gripped Naruto's hand as though it were the only thing tethering him to life.

With all the effort he could muster, Naruto slammed his elbow into the ground and heaved himself up. Sakura yelped when he gave a strangled cry.

Sweat popped out as enormous drops on his forehead. Heavily, he rolled over, joints grinding, stomach churning. He heaved one burly arm over Sasuke. Tears sprouted in the corners of his eyes as he dragged Sasuke into a full embrace. His garbled gasps poured over Sasuke's cheek, specks of fresh blood spattering over the flaky coat of old black blood.

Sakura pressed her hands over her face to smother her sobs. Her chipped nails dug like claws into her flesh. It felt as if her heart were being peeled from her chest, leaving behind frayed and useless remnants.

Through the fog in his mind, Sasuke felt small and helpless.

_I'm dying. Dying. The only thing I can't escape from. Can't fight out of it. Too late. _

There was no way he could lash out at a foe of invisible darkness that attacked from the inside, closing its claws over his soul. It was strange. With Naruto's strong arms around him, he felt safe. Even though his life could be snuffed out any second. Even though a gray haze was eating into his eyes. Even though his icy fingers were growing numb. He felt safe. Naruto was big and warm. Pleasant. Yellow hair wisped over Sasuke's face.

From far away, a husky voice floated into Sasuke's ears. It sounded ripply. Wavery. As if he were underwater.

A croaky "hm?" broke from Sasuke's throat.

The arms tightened around Sasuke, and this time, Sasuke felt Naruto's mouth move against his jaw. His cheek squished under Naruto's lips.

"Said . . . I've been waiting. Waiting"––his voice sank below a whisper––"to be kids again."

Something piled in Sasuke's throat, hot and tender. The cord of Naruto's neck bobbed when he swallowed.

"Only thing I've ever wanted is to be a kid again." He breathed, growing more pale by the second. "Kids––because that was the last time I got to be close to you." His eyelids drooped shut.

"I promised myself, you know," he mused. "'Naruto, when you bring Sasuke back, don't turn loose of nothing but bad memories.' I wanted to pretend . . . even when I became Hokage . . . that we were still little. That we could talk about anything. That we could be like we used to."

He drew Sasuke closer. When he breathed, Sasuke smelled the tangy sourness of sweat and the muddy musk of gore. For once, it didn't matter how filthy Naruto was. Sasuke pushed his face against Naruto's chest, staring with wide eyes into blackness. His eyelids stretched like canvas over his eyes, quivering as tears gathered in their corners.

If Sasuke had one wish in the world, he would choose to return through the funnel of time to his childhood. He would smile. He would cling to Naruto and Sakura like a starving baby. He would run from Orochimaru with never a backwards glance. He would forgive his brother.

He would do anything to avoid having to let go. But the time for making decisions had long passed. For the first time in his life, the words "too late" broke Sasuke's heart.

He pressed a hand over his eyes. His lips tugged down as tears drooled through the slats between his fingers.

"I'm . . . _sorr_y."

The wind carried Sasuke's whisper into the clouds. The last sheet of sunlight was torn by the clouds crowding around the sun. Light sprinkled down in gold glitter, shimmering in the darkness.

Sasuke tilted his head. The last bits of warmth dusted his face.


End file.
